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FGM: 'Police have saved women and girls in London from being cut'

Police action has saved a number of women and girls in London from the crime of female genital mutilation, a senior detective said today.

The Met says that out of 69 cases of suspected FGM which were referred to the force last year, they took action in 57 cases. In a number of these cases police believe that their intervention prevented girls from being cut.

Detective Superintendent Jason Ashwood, the head of the Met’s FGM team, said his officers were using covert tactics because it was “very hard to investigate FGM when the victim is a very young child and the suspect is a family member”.

Mr Ashwood added that many of the referrals received by police were not specific allegations of a crime but where someone feared a child could be at risk. “We carry out a lot of police activity which may not result in an arrest or a prosecution but we are convinced that on a variety of occasions we have prevented a risk to a young child,” he said.

However, the Deputy Children’s Commissioner for England has raised concerns that many Londoners trying to report suspicions about FGM have been let down by the Met.

Sue Berelowitz told a London Assembly hearing that a senior member of staff at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner had struggled for hours to get through to a Met official who could help with a “heart-rending” case.

“We’re pretty well informed in our office and pretty well connected and I cannot tell you how difficult it was for us to simply track down who to speak to,” she said. Once the right person had been found they were “very good”.

Ms Berelowitz said the Met had “a way to go” to catch up with other forces — such as Lancashire and Greater Manchester — on information-sharing but that senior officers recognised this.

Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said parents suspected of taking their daughters abroad to undergo FGM are being stopped by police at airports and handed leaflets warning them that the practice is a serious criminal offence.

Sir Bernard said: “It is very hard for them to come back and say they weren’t aware… If on their return they show any sign, if we have any intelligence or evidence that FGM has been carried out, then we have got an operation which seeks to intervene there.”

He also said that referrals about FGM from health and education authorities were extremely low. “It is clear there must be girls and women who have had this operation carried out who later get medical treatment and it is not being reported to us. That’s very hard to understand,” he said.

The Met has made 12 arrests over FGM allegations and five people remain on bail. Police have submitted seven cases files to the CPS and are working with them on three further investigations.